Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 05, 2014

Annie, Daddy and Sandy: the gang is all here nowAxel’s troops defeated, Punjab would show him howThose brought under cover vanish never to returnNo mercy nor compassion, some killers never learn.Fritz Ann won’t allow it, flashes badge and gunSlaps the cuffs on Axel, his arrest delicious fun.Calling Dick Tracy! Emergency! The lab about to blow!Get to the storm cellar or die watching the show.Axel is a stubborn one, confirmed scoundrel and liarEven deals in human flesh, for everything a buyer.Knocks Ms. Dietrich on the head, takes it on the lamHands still cuffed behind him, takes flight hoping to scram.If he can just grab the notes, secure Kenyon’s concoctionThe bosses shall reward him well, they sell weapons at auction.Axel makes it to the lab, sticks his beak into the roomA blinding light ‘tis his last sight, the explosion seals his doom.

Great one tonight!

Good morning guys!

Coulda been worse,,, it could have been a “floooom!”

Great “final” art of Axel! After all this time, I realized his looks have been reminding me of Fagin from “Oliver Twist” (especially the 1948 Alec Guinness movie version).

Now on to the matter of “Tracy’s buyer” & Axel’s “bosses”…I had thought that if there were any possibility of it being 1944, Axel may have been answering to the Brow (he would have still been around then). Present day, we can’t rule out Venus, Meilies, & their crowd.

And finally… THERE GOES THE SILO’S SILO!

That’s why Axel can’t have nice things.

The Blackhearts/Venus = bosses & buyers?

Or…the Buyer for Tracy was that mechanical villain who blew up the boat the Asp & Punjab were last seen on?

Xaxos?

At least Kenyon closed the door and locked it as he ran from the house!

THOOMM pretty much says it all for today’s sequence. Unless he is more magical than Punjab, Axel is vaporized by that blast. I will assume that all the Warbucks-Tracy Team, plus the Silos, made it into the storm cellar and will survive. But a lot of townspeople of Simmons Corners may have met their Maker tonight, so we can’t exactly rejoice at what has happened.

So did Daddy make it to the shelter?

As I commented a few days ago, why did Fritz Ann and Sam allow Professor Kenyon to continue with his project? Of course, if they hadn’t we wouldn’t have a great ending to this story. Hopefully the explosion is only contained to the Kenyon and Silo farms.

Wow!

The explosion will rip a hole in the time-space continuum, and Axel will wake up Terok Nor, where a woman in black leather will order him to the ore processing plant.

So, apparently Axel wasn’t the mastermind of this whole thing. Seems he was being held on the island against his will and Kenyon’s notes was his only way to escape.

He almost found a buyer for Tracy, and that could be those who had a contract out on Tracy already, but it means that Axel’s boss is not that buyer. Keeping Tracy on the island was a little side project for Axel.

After the “earth shattering kaboom,” as Marvin the Martian would have called it, or in this case, the “THOOMM,” I don’t think we’ll be seeing Axel again ever. He’ll be vaporized. Hopefully, there’s enough evidence back at the newspaper office to indicate who Axel’s bosses are, but I think we can rule out the Blackheart gang.

1. WOW!2. I hope Team Tracy didn’t kill off Daddy Warbucks.3. Notice that Punjab and the Asp are not in the picture. We don’t know if they are in the shelter, or if they are doing something outside.4. The same goes for Tracy and Sam. And we really didn’t see Fritz Ann getting into the shelter.5. That’s Kenyon’s silo getting blown up, not Mr. Silo’s silo.6. We learned quite a lot today. First, that Axel is involved in human trafficking.7. We also learned that Axel is being kept on Thunder Island against his will.8. Explosions in the Tracy universe go THOOMM instead of KA-FLOOM.9. Pequod has a great poem for us today, as usual!10. WOW!

I’m worried – look closely at the last panel – there are three figures flying off the ground in the face of that explosion! And today’s art does not show us Tracy, Sam, Daddy Warbucks, Punjab nor the Asp!

Well by golly, here’s a Hew with a Different View *. . . should we factor in - Blue ?

Does “Thoomm” in the Room, really mean Doom ??

What was Kenyon CODE Word to Axel, via Annie ?*Wasn’t it simply - – “BLUE” ? With a note, “close to success” ?Plus Annie’s view : “Axel was sure happy” ! ?

And, as Ray Toler so ‘aptly’ reminded yesterday, Mike has a way, (on occasion), of omitting wind-up answers (like, who’s skulls in the Crypt, in the Sweatbox case ? And we might add, what happened to Blaze Rize ? Never had explanations*/full clarification *! ?So don’t mind now, that the code word Blue - tantalizingly matches back to Diet Smith’s Project Blue Image, which we all know is his experiment’s name for

- Time Travel ! ?*And further recall - that’s what, the Authors ‘put out’ there to get readers all EXCITED at the beginning ? From Diet Smith, Warbucks and Flintheart !

Today from Axel’s words, he certainly thinks he’s GOING somewhere - “. . . Get off this Island ?” No swimming needed, just getting into the right Bubble, on time ? ;-) And hope it’s not like Alley Oop’s, too far forward or backward in time ?Keenly, Axel - eyes that “bubbling” Cauldron and as we pointedly note, it’s colored BLUE. Remember, Sunday page colors are done by - the In House Team (special instructions?), and not by GoComics.Whatever the clues or clothing he may leave behind, I suspect Axel will LIVE to comb his Beard another day, in any reincarnation of the Annie strip

We all can ‘SPECULATE’, but now, this coming week, as we face - “Wrap Up” time, the Big Question likely is, what further, will we hear on Time Travel - from the Authors ?My guess,, everyone wishes to hear more.

The last clarion Clue was - Kenyon’s BLUE . . .That came early September, will we now get something to remember ? ?

Good morning DT and Annie fans. Very good poem Pequod77! Have a blessed Lord’s Day.

It was while you were asleep last night.

Doesn’t “Daddy” Warbucks have a history of appearing to have been killed, and then turning up alive months later?

Spectacular art today – especially the colors in those last two panels!

Nice cliffhanger!

Harold Gray had a policy of not ending Little Orphan Annie plotlines completely happy. I suspect Daddy Warbucks will be severely injured, with his life hanging in the balance. to be resolved as and when a new “Annie” strip is started.

If that’s Daddy, Puinjab, and the Asp that got ka-floomed, then that answers the question of Team T doing a strip on Annie in the future. No way Team T would waste Tracy and Sam; that’s their meal ticket to another Harvey.

Well, that’s one way to get off the island, Axel…

Thanks, PQ! Actually, your fine poetry pointed out something I missed this morning – which isn’t strange at all, considering my age! Thanks! Considering that all the baddies have a contract out for Tracy, Axel should have collected while he had him.

THOOMM…..

THOOMM! Not with a whimper but with a bang. Axel goes to pieces, getting off of Thunder Island with a bit more rapidity than he bargained for. As some had surmised after the laptop chat, Axel was not the boss of the operation. The expenses of sprucing up the abandoned island were not out of his pocket. Clearly there was more for sale than Kenyon’s explosive formula. Axel “almost had a buyer for Tracy.” No doubt, Annie would have also been on the auction block. Shudder..Love the use and change of colors in the last two panels. Eye catching. Yet another Sunday strip that makes a strong impression. Looks like not everyone made it to the cellar in time. Here’s hoping none were struck by deadly shrapnel.

I like the way this story switched back and forth between Tracyville and Thunder Island. I agree that there could have been a bit more action, or at least suspenseful close calls, before help arrived. A more formidable side-kick for Axel may have helped in this regard, as Wilhelm was bland. The main variation in the entertaining crossover was how little time we spent with the villain. Many stories focus on the criminal and his or her partners in slime, leaving Tracy off-panel for long stretches. This story’s approach made sense, as Annie was rightly prominent on Thunder Island. Tracy may have regretted his solo scouting mission, given hindsight, but his inquisitive spirit brought the two leads together. I’ve enjoyed the depth of the lengthy story. Mr. Curtis had a lot to juggle in weaving the dangling threads of the canceled Annie strip into Tracy’s world. Hats off. Elsewhere, research continues unabated at Smith Industries. Let’s hope that R+D is less volatile than Kenyon’s..

Thanks to VistaBill, cpalmeresq, Ray Toler, Night-Gaunt49, Gweedo, davidf42, starman1948, John Russell (I’m a young and healthy 55), Chris Sherlock and Morrow for the kind words. Very much appreciated!

Elsewhere, research continues unabated at Smith Industries. Let’s hope that R+D is less volatile than Kenyon’s.Which reminds me…when last we saw Diet, one of his inventions was about to blow. I wonder when/if we’ll find out what’s happening with that?

Another fine poetic offering, as always, PQ. By the way, just how old is that cartoon of Annie and the explosion in your comment? It looks like the copyright date is the year 1561.

Thanks, Daniel and mzkdad. The “Boom!” panel is from is from December 16, 1951. Here’s another explosion from 1946 (Annie is not on the island this time. Whew!).Thanks for the tip, Ray. I will try to get to that. It looks good and I know the set design will be first-rate. I had the pleasure of seeing Dustin Hoffman at the Blackstone in Miller’s Death of a Salesman, years ago.

Well, he got off the island.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Mike and/or Joe would answer some of our questions? Only THEY know the answers! Or, maybe not!

So I guess tomorrow we’ll find Axel parts scattered over four or five states and maybe a Canadian territory or two?

There may have been a small, one-person blast shelter in the professor’s laboratory. After all, Kenyon would have had to test his concoctions without blowing himself to bits. Axel could have used it to escape death. In addition, with the money used to set up the faux town, it is conceivable that some sort of secret tunnel system connected Kenyon’s lab with Axel’s newspaper office. However, we shall see what happens. I am only speculating.

It actually looks like Axel is standing behind some sort of blast wall.

Well, he did get off the island.

“Thoom!” Kinda reminds me of Locher’s “Floom!”

Hello, gang! My first ever post here. Dick Tracy has forever been my favorite comic strip of all time. As for this current storyline, fantastic! A tag team of comic strip powerhouses in one story.

Annie, Daddy and Sandy: the gang is all here now

Axel’s troops defeated, Punjab would show him how

Those brought under cover vanish never to return

No mercy nor compassion, some killers never learn.

Fritz Ann won’t allow it, flashes badge and gun

Slaps the cuffs on Axel, his arrest delicious fun.

Calling Dick Tracy! Emergency! The lab about to blow!

Get to the storm cellar or die watching the show.

Axel is a stubborn one, confirmed scoundrel and liar

Even deals in human flesh, for everything a buyer.

Knocks Ms. Dietrich on the head, takes it on the lam

Hands still cuffed behind him, takes flight hoping to scram.

If he can just grab the notes, secure Kenyon’s concoction

The bosses shall reward him well, they sell weapons at auction.

Axel makes it to the lab, sticks his beak into the room

A blinding light ‘tis his last sight, the explosion seals his doom.